From Carte Blanche, Blanchardstown Centre Magazine
Does making a movie like ‘Lord of the Rings’ bring out the child in you?
I loved it all… I basically did it so that I could have the ears [laughs]. they actually made little bronze castings of my ears for me to take home. Film making, no matter what genre you’re working in, you’re creating fantasy for an audience. It’s for someone else, it’s not just for me and making ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was a great experience.
How difficult was it to shoot the battle scenes?
It’s completely crazy, but Peter Jacson is completely crazy for the last seven months, when I got there, every Saturday was like going to a rugby match. He and Viggo would go off to battle thirty thousand Orcs, and these thirty thousand Orcs would turn up in some studio in Wellington and they would just continue the battle. They went on for well over eighteen months, I think.
Did you use your ‘Elizabeth’ experience for ‘Queen of the Elves’?
[Laughs] Queen of the Elves is a verry different queen to ‘Elizabeth’, incredibly different, you’ll see; the ears for staters.
Did you enjoy being in New Zealand?
Yes, I’ve had such a great year. I mean, New Zealand is really the most perfect place to shoot stories.
How have you managed to stay grounded after so much success?
I just keep working really and just keep true to what interests me. After ‘Elizabeth’, there were a lot of offers to do the same thing over again, but without the corset and change the name, but basically the story is the same and I’m not that interested in repeating myself. I think that it’s boring and dull and lazy. For me, the most interesting thing was to play different characters. Those came up as playing smaller roles in great stories and then, this year, I’ve been lucky that there have been a lot of projects that I have been passionate about.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will open at UCI Blanchardstown, Ireland in December 2001
